Rubber covered rollers or, simply, rollers, of the types used in the printing industry, conveyors, manufacturing processes and the like, are manufactured to meet predetermined tolerances. Typically, a support, outer covering is provided on a metal roller, and a grinding or abrading process is used to form the surface of the roller to the desired tolerance relative to the central axis (normally an axis of rotation) of the roller. The cover may be rubber, polyurethane or other synthetic material. Thus, the terms rubber “or synthetic” are intended to be interchangeable and to include all such materials.
It has been found that although this process, as generally described above, of forming the cylindrical surface of a rubber covered roller has proved satisfactory in obtaining the desired tolerance on the surface of the roller, the process is time-consuming because the abrading process removes only small portions of the rubber surface at a time. Thus, it typically takes a substantial amount of time to form the surface of the rubber coating to the desired tolerance and dimension. In short, the existing process is time consuming and, therefore, expensive, due to the use of gritted surfaces to remove required amount of rubber in the form of small particles, much like dust.